We often think of play as something just for children - something not "serious enough" for the truly academically minded (read snooty). However since having my own children and watching them develop especially in the first five years - I believe at no point in our lives, do we learn and grow and acquire as much knowledge as we do in those first five years. From lifting our heads - to starting to write alphabets - it all happens in five years. Even the top ranked universities of the world, can't say they make that kind of change in their students in that amount of time. And the most telling aspect of the first five years of a child's life, is that we encourage play!! - everything they learn th,ey do so by playing - with adults, children, expensive fancy toys, blades of grass, moving their bodies. And then school begins - and we take these professional learners, and stick them into structured environments where we now believe they will "really learn". What a shame!

We've all heard the Sir Ken Robinson's TEDTalk on school's killing creativity, it was so encouraging to learn about ways school's are catching up to what research is showing us about play. While much of today's educational play seems to be linked with the Maker Movement and STEM. It was also really encouraging to see ways in which gamification is being applied to the arts and social sciences. In today's very flat world it is important that students understand not only the geography and geopolitics of their own countries - but the world at large - and especially how connected we all are. How Western lifestyles and political decisions, have long and sometimes disastrous effects on other parts of the world. Of even in our own countries - I often think about the oil sands of Alberta, and wonder how many Canadian's really know what is happening to the land in those northern Albertan environments. This is where games like Fort McMoney have the opportunity to bring these issues to students, and allow them to actively understand the issues at hand.

I wish every parent who stood protesting the recent changes to the Ontario Curriculum to include more discussion on LGBTQI could be legislated to read this week’s article. As the article states it is not an homosexual, heterosexual, or LGBTQI issue – but an issue of social justice, and respect for all. I see it as a basic human rights issue!

The lack of speaking about LGBTQI in school not only prevent those students who identify as such to learn the information and skills they require to grow and develop in their sexual identity, but also contributes to a climate of exclusion in school. And given the many many stories of violence, hate and discrimination hurled at LGTBQI students – I personally cannot see how one could even consider continuing the tradition of “don’t ask, don’t tell’.Everyone deserves an education that empowers them – and the only way to empower all our youth today is to give them the right information. Not only for those students who might identify as LGTBQI, but also those are do not, and must be educated in order to dispel l myths and hateful rhetoric.

Leaving out LGBTQI education in schools implies that those students who identify as such are abnormal, not worth of inclusion, and still a taboo subject that must not be discussed. Given that we know many LGBTQI youth feel isolated and rejected, and worse preyed up – these messages from schools which are supposed to be safe spaces for all are even more damaging.

If we as a society are turning a purposeful blind eye to young people, and allowing the hate to continue – we bear a huge responsibility each time a young LGBTQI finds themselves a victim of violence either at their own hands, or that of others.

In the “olden days” kids who felt like they fit in with the culture of their high school, were told of these magical institutions called “universities” – where you were sure to find someone, even just one person, who would have the same interests as you. You were really into all night computer programming marathons in your parent’s basement – well universities had entire departments filled with people with the same interests, you loved to listen to Opera – well that’s what Music departments were all about. However if you weren’t economically privileged enough to find yourself able to go to this place of magic and camaraderie – well you were just out of luck! Not so much anymore….Field et al’s article is another example of how digital technology can bring the world to you, right in your home, room, or park bench. Young people today have a reach that extends so far beyond their physical and geographical locations – and that same reach applies to the world of opportunities available to them. Being able to work on projects, fiction writing – you name it – with the world’s population as your resource and collaborators is an experience that would have been unheard of 20 years ago.Not only does this allow students to explore projects they are interested in – but it also gives them a space where they can see what other people are working on. Perhaps even find new interests they did not even know existed.One thing that especially stands out for me with collaboration and technology – is the difference in the message behind online collaboration. Classroom settings require students to work on projects either solo, or in a small defined group – there is also an emphasis placed on working in silos, not plagiarizing ideas or work – and of course with these messages comes a sense of protection of ideas, and not helping other groups. The digital world on the other hand thrives on collaboration, and idea exchanges, and support. What a great message to young people of today.As anyone can tell you in the workforce – you never work in silos, you always work as a team, relying on other’s opinions, experience, and ideas. However our school system still hasn’t caught up with the power of collaboration. This is somewhere I think common maker spaces shine.Through participation in such online spaces, not only do students learn new ideas and information – but they learn one of the most important tools in learning – collaboration!

I enjoyed reading Pretchauer’s article on Hip Hop Curriculums in schools, as besides commercial Hip Hop, I was not even aware of the Hip Hop Curriculum. While I have knew Hip Hop was born in New York, it was so enlightening to learn how it was born out of the oppressive conditions in the South Bronx of the ‘70s. While I’ve always known about the limited resources, poverty, and gang violence that was a main stay of the Bronx, it was so amazing to learn how Hip Hop was really born out of a desire by the youth in the area to come together in an effort to improve the community. They were able to find a way to express themselves through amazing art forms such as rapping, breakdancing, graffiti art, and turntablism.

While I am not by any means an expert on Hip Hop Music (not even close) – I always found it strange that commercial hip hop is often showcased as being sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, and violent – with less attention given to artists who promote the opposite – strong women in Hip Hop such as Lauryn Hill and Queen Latifah, have stood tall as exemplars of strong feminists. Kendrick Lamar, Mos, Def have provided lyrics that not critique the culture of sexism of hip-hop and society. Why don’t we hear more about these artists in main stream culture? Is it another assault on black culture by the media and society at large – to portray them in the worst light possible. Hip-Hop is certainly not the only genre out there to participate in sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, and violent messages, yet main stream media does not view these other genres with the same constant negative lens as it does Hip Hop.

In thinking about these issues, it became even more apparent how important Hip Hop Curriculum is to today’s youth – all youth, not just those deemed a target audience based on race and economics. I think Hip Hop can be used as a lens to teach students to critique what they see, hear, read - and the messages attached.

After reading Pretchauer’s article, I did a few internet searches to learn more about the many positive, socially conscious messages coming from Hip Hop Artists, and was surprised at the lack of representation of these artists on mainstream TV and radio. As educators we bear a responsibility to give our students a true and balanced view of topics – and Hip Hop especially has so many great lessons and examples of strength, positivity, hope, justice, and success to offer that are not being shown in the public sphere. Even personally as educators it is important that we understand the culture our students identify with.

I hope Hip Hop Curriculum continues to grow – not only in urban spaces, but also suburban schools where sadly students might only be exposed to one dimensional commercial radio Hip Hop – students in both places have so much to gain by having their minds opened, and their critical senses ignited through what a Hip Hop curriculum can offer.

This week’s reading was especially insightful for me as I am not generally a fan or even consumer of sci-fi. However even with my limited exposure to the genre much of Saunder’s message resonated as having value.

I have often felt that in Western society we tend to shelter our kids from geopolitical issues – perhaps because we believe it might be too scary, or even that we don’t trust our children’s ability to process certain types of information. While we might not live in an active war zone, one issue that is extremely present in our day to day lives is racial inequality – and yet many well-meaning educators take cover under the “I don’t see colour” banner, that was been proved ineffective in multiple studies. Through the use of Sci fi Saunders gives us a platform where we can begin our discovery and journey into issues that have traditionally been hard to tackle, and less traumatic than watching some of the themes seen on our news channels. Sci-Fi also provides a large repertoire of choice when it comes to subject matter and age appropriate material for children, whether it be in cartoon, comic format or feature length movies – allowing critical thinking and discussions to be tailor made to the required audience.

In addition to sci-fi tackling geo political themes of war, refugees, nations, and the concept of being “alien”, several sci fi authors such as Ursula LeGuin tackle subjects related to feminism, sexuality, gender neutrality – all issues that are (or should be) part of the social conscience of today’s youth. On a personal level, I have come to appreciate Princess Leia so much more since having princess loving children – as she is an example in our household of a tough, strong, independent princess, contrary to the many damsel in distress Disney versions. I also appreciated Saunder’s cautionary note at the end of his paper – where he warns educators to be mindful to ensure that in the process of critical examination of themes, there isn’t a reinforcement of stereotypical representations often also seen in sci-fi.​The world is getting increasingly flatter and we can no longer pretend to be a separate entity from the issues that do not directly affect us. We have no choice but to ensure our children are raised to be global citizens – and most importantly social responsible ones!

Ever since I accidentally stumbled upon the Terry O’Reilly’s CBC radio show Age of Persuasion (now renamed Under the Influence), I’ve been interested in the marketing and advertising machines that seem to play puppet master to so much of how we think and act. The TV show Mad Men just added to the allure of this world that is quite foreign to the one I live in. Watching this week’s assigned video and reading Fune’s paper just solidified some of what I already knew – but also made me think harder about children and young adults are also being artfully manipulated by the industry. While the advertising and marketing industries are booming – is there any one playing gate keeper to their art??

According to one statistics website the average child in the United States watches an estimated 16,000 television commercials a year. My own personal opinion on many ads targeted at children today, seem to contain themes of hypersexuality, poor health choices, and even impulse control. A quick couple of hours spent watching ads promoting McDonald’s deep fried (non) chicken nuggets as a healthy and “happy meal” lead me to think there is no ethical, or social justification for how we market to children. As described in “Part I – The Happiness Machine” we know marketing targets emotions, not rational thought, and it seems that ads today train children to choose products based on the celebrity marketing the product, or the cool factor the ad promotes – rather than the actual value. While we as educators extol the virtues of critical thinking – advertising does nothing but undermine critical thinking and promotes following the masses and living impulsively.

As educators (and parents) I see how extremely vital it is to teach children how to understand the media messages they get on a 24 hour cycle. Teaching children how advertising worksis key to developing not only critically thinking children, but also physically and mentally healthy children. However as a parent of a five year old who is targeted by Disney ads, Mattel ads and McDonald’s ads telling her to pigeon hole herself into gender roles, eat unhealthy food, and even dress like Miley Cyrus – I am often not sure her reasoning abilities allow her critically analyze and be cynical of these messages. Are we as a society relying on our youngest and most vulnerable to protect themselves from dangerous messages marketing directly at them?? Surely we as a society can do more to protect them – rather than leaving them out to the wolves.

My disclaimer to all my opinions in this course is that I am not a youth educator, I don’t teach elementary, high school, or university/college level students – my teaching experience comes from teaching adults, and even so in the decidedly unsexy world of Pharmaceutical Production! Lab Coats and safety googles do not inspire Jean Paul Gautier Haute Couture, no matter what the spin might be J My interest in the subject matter for the course comes first as a consumer (or in some cases force fed victim) of popular culture, and second as a parent of young children who even at ages under five are still living in a culture dominated by pop.

While reading Wong and Henrickson’s article on Fashion as Ideas I started to think about a conversation I had recently with a 20 something woman about Canadian Politics. The woman is someone I would consider an intelligent, self-assured and confident young woman – yet when the topic somehow turned to the upcoming Canadian Election, she said “Canadian Politics isn’t sexy….it’s so boring I don’t have time”. While reading Wong and Henrickson’s article I kept going back to my conversation – and so much of what they said rang true. Canadian politics is decidedly unsexy and boring, and as such we are losing generations of voters due to the unsexy factor. It’s not voter apathy – it’s not sexy”. However from much of our other conversation it was clear she was a devour-er of pop culture – where are we going wrong as a society, that our young people believe knowing what Rhianna wore last night, is more important than exercising their voice (and right to vote) in matters that deal with their own lives!!

Wong and Henrickson would say we need to bring the sexy back into politics – we need splashy ads, and sexy politicians – saxophone playing Billy of the 90’s ain’t cutting it anymore. While I see how this makes sense in trying to reach today’s youth – I also wonder if perhaps one of the required fashion campaigns should be “Bring back boring”. If we market ideas and core societal values as high fashion – how do we deal with the inevitability of a fad wearing out. Will scientific ideas become the tear away pants of a generation? Does everything need to be high stimulus, flashy and shiny – are we raising a generation who potentially won’t be able to function in non-sexy times.

I wonder how the teens and early 20’s kids will function in boring stodgy workplaces like me – pharmaceuticals, which are places where amazing science and technology happens, but all book ended by stringent laws and rules to ensure public health and safety. Perhaps in the future companies will have to move towards employee satisfaction models seen in companies like Google – with slides instead of stairs, and quinoa cutlets galore.I know life will change, society will change, corporations will change to meet the needs of it’s generation – but in talking to my friend about a very small section of society – politics. I almost wondered if some political parties (starts with a C) are gleefully celebrating the fact that reams of voters won’t turn out to vote, because they have succeeded in being boring enough to generate apathy, and so will continue to win, on so many levels.

I grew up in Mumbai, India till I was 16 years old – and in 1995 my family made the big big move to Toronto. While most people might think of India in the ‘80s as a place filled will roaming cows and lots of homeless people – Mumbai was, and continues to be quite the thriving metropolis. While we did not have Blockbuster, or MTV (till the early 90’s), we did have the local video store – and the local video store’s distant cousin third cousin by marriage who lived somewhere in America!!! In all my years I never met this enigma from the West – but she (or he) was quite influential in my life. You see – these unknown relatives were the Pop Culture Gurus for generations of Indian city kids. They would dutifully (and highly illegally I know realize) tape popular sitcoms, hours of MTV, and Tom Cruise movies and bring them back by the suitcase full to Mumbai on their yearly holidays. These illegal VHS tapes would then be pride of place in our local little video store primed for viewing by Indian kids!

At 5 I was already singing “Like a Virgin” and dancing around my poor traumatized Nana’s living room – watching 2 hour features of Cosby episodes, and by the time I was eight years old, I was convinced I was going to Mrs. Kirk Cameron – aka Mike Seaver (before he went all crazy religious of course!).

That’s the thing about Pop Culture – it really has the ability to connect people who really might not have anything in common. Very little of my life in India looked like the shows I was watching, the people around me certainly did not – but there was still a feeling of connection with what we watched. It also allowed me to have instant connections with friends I made years later in Toronto – it was hard enough being the new Indian kid, but having little common themes to talk about – whether it was knowing the cast of 90210, or being able to sing Nirvana songs it certainly make the world a bit flatter and a bit more familiar.

I am excited about this course – as I’ve always been a pop culture fan, but must admit in recent years have also been alarmed at some of the recurring themes of violence and sex – and even scarier sexualized violence that seems to be cropping up in today’s pop culture. Now as a mother of two young girls – I don’t want to turn into an old crow who bans all pop culture media from our house, instead I want to understand it and learn about – so that I can teach my kids to find a way to enjoy pop culture, while understanding and analyzing the messages it’s teaching them.

Author

Hi there, I'm Carol K - a lover of all things pop culture, until I had two young girls and now I'm quite terrified of all things pop culture. I'm not sure if I've gotten old and stodgy, or pop culture has gotten violent and scary. I'm excited about this class, and a chance to educate myself on today's Pop Culture and Media - so I can arm myself and my family with the tools to enjoy it, while critically analyzing and understanding it.